WTF?? No clawhammerbanjo.stackexchange.com??? No thanks from me, stackexchange sux!
Dear StackExchange: Thank You
21–30 of 71 posts
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
A bit off-topic but: what are good discussion/open-ended questions sites (software development specific)?
I believe that http://programmers.stackexchange.com/ was introduced for this. A lot of questions were migrated from SO to programmers when it started.
Nah, they don't like discussions there either... Check out the FAQ: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/faq
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a complete list on http://stackexchange.com/sites ; there are actually way more than 41 sites in the SE network.
So is SE the better Quora?
It's much more focused on: 1) specific technical questions; that 2) plausibly have a good answer. Quora is a more general Q&A site, where you can ask questions on pretty much any subject, and can ask open-ended/discussion type questions as well.
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#24They are the best programming and general technology questions and answers anywhere by far. Discussions are not tolerated, nor are open-ended questions, but if you need to know the most efficient way to do X in language Y, then look no farther than stackoverflow.
A bit off-topic but: what are good discussion/open-ended questions sites (software development specific)?
I think HN is a reasonable place for that.
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#25I can definitely relate with the feeling described. I too got the "prize" from Unix&Linux.SE. The hand signed letter by Spolsky definitely had a strong effect. I felt proud like a child receiving a gold star in kindergarden. A piece of advice for all the startup/business founders here on HN. When you send personalized communication to your users, be it a personal email, or something as superficial as putting your han…
Hi there, I'm the author of the post.
I couldn't agree more with your comment. I liked the letter so much I put it in a frame I had lying around and I mounted it on my wall. I think a lot of startups should heed your advice and provide this same kind of "WOW" service. Letting your users know you respect them can go a long way for a company that really means it.
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#26No thanks from me. The no discussions rule means the only questions on the site are the trivial questions that could be answered by reading some documentation. If questions are broad or open ended, the value lies in the discussion, not in any particular answer. I also found that many accepted answers are blatantly wrong, or encourage very poor practice. Sure, the StackExchange network is better than experts-exchange…
When you go to the public pool, you don't complain about not being able to play golf, do you? StackExchange is a Q&A community website. Although sometimes discussion would be appreciated, it is not what it was meant for. And by all means, if you find an accepted answer to be wrong, downvote and comment it! The whole point of StackExchange websites is to rate questions and answers!
I think the person is simply frustrated because he realizes that StackExchange could be so much better. I quit a few years ago when they changed all question upvotes to be only worth 5 points, but rejoined about a year and a half ago because it's still the best existing option.
When asking questions, I try to make them good enough so that other people will find them useful in the future, and it's great when I get a like-minded answer. Some examples:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9708945/how-to-embed-a-ne...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10252440/changing-the-det...
Still, I think StackOverflow could be taken up a notch to allow more collaboration and organization. Also, wouldn't it be great to be able to provide runnable source code in some sort of git archive? For some languages like Javascript the code in the questions/answers could be in something like http://jsfiddle.net
Ideally, a group of people could pick any topic and essentially write several books (beginner and advanced) by asking lots of questions. At least that was my initial belief. Say, for example, you wanted to learn elisp, and you typed: "Hello world in emacs", well I've got that answered:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2170528/writing-hello-wor...
I didn't quite get a book with Elisp, but I did throw down quite a few breadcrumbs:
CGI: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1532311/cgi-programming-i...
AWK Example: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2260294/awk-print-2-1-in-...
Extract URLs: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1642184/extracting-urls-f...
Parse CSV/Gen HTML: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1541682/lisp-script-to-pa...
Wrap Selection like Textmate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1558178/wrap-selection-in...
MySql (Unanswered): http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1532365/mysql-queries-fro...
Generate a Quiz: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2264286/generating-a-quiz...
Open Browser: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1532365/mysql-queries-fro...
Generate a Quiz (Common Lisp): http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2264267/generating-a-quiz...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2115341/sorting-buffer-li...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2358604/convert-decimal-h...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2170120/operating-on-mult...
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#27I participate in the SO community a lot (I'm top answer-er for the Canvas tag and HTML5 tag). It's not quite a "community", though, because while I have a lot of respect for the other answer-ers I don't really get to interact with them very much, aside from complimenting a novel solution and the like. I sort of wish there were more methods for interaction (the chat channels don't help that much for niche tags).
And while my interaction with askers is always fleeting, I'd really like to thank them for all their support. At the end of the day their words are the only encouragement I need:
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#28No thanks from me. The no discussions rule means the only questions on the site are the trivial questions that could be answered by reading some documentation. If questions are broad or open ended, the value lies in the discussion, not in any particular answer. I also found that many accepted answers are blatantly wrong, or encourage very poor practice. Sure, the StackExchange network is better than experts-exchange…
Discussion is only tolerated insofar as it allows refinement (and editing for improvement) of the question and the answers. Discussion in and of itself is not the goal; getting a verifiably great answer to your question -- even if you didn't ask it -- is!
At Stack Exchange, we do science in the small. Bite-size, fun-size units of science that shouldn't feel like work, but collectively build something amazing for a community of people who love a particular topic.
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#29I participate in the SO community a lot (I'm top answer-er for the Canvas tag and HTML5 tag). It's not quite a "community", though, because while I have a lot of respect for the other answer-ers I don't really get to interact with them very much, aside from complimenting a novel solution and the like. I sort of wish there were more methods for interaction (the chat channels don't help that much for niche tags). And w…
It really does feel great to have an answer accepted, you get something similar to that feeling of "ahh this is fixed, finally!".
Re: Dear StackExchange: Thank You
#30No thanks from me. The no discussions rule means the only questions on the site are the trivial questions that could be answered by reading some documentation. If questions are broad or open ended, the value lies in the discussion, not in any particular answer. I also found that many accepted answers are blatantly wrong, or encourage very poor practice. Sure, the StackExchange network is better than experts-exchange…
I do not think "no discussion" rule is enforced to mean no any discussion at all. I have routinely seen and participated in discussing merits of certain answers, and nobody minded. The premise is however that there is a right answer to the question and it is knowable and findable, not just a matter of opinion that can be debated endlessly. Yes, some questions do not fit - but many questions that are complicated enough for me that I could not find it by myself without wasting a lot of time - do fit. Documentation is very different format - it usually shows you what tools you have, but not how to use them. Compare "here's a hammer, it is used to drive in nails" to "how do I hammer in a nail that is slightly crooked into a concrete wall?" or "Can I put a nail into a porcelain tile without breaking it?". The docs probably won't answer such questions.